The Google employee who died in a tragic accident at the Cannes advertising festival has been named

The Google employee who died while attending the Cannes Lions advertising festival earlier this week has been identified as James Howard, a member of Google's marketing team in the UK.

Howard, who was 29 years old, was hit by a taxi on Sunday night, the first day of the week-long event.

The news was reported earlier by the London Evening Standard, and has been confirmed by Google.

One of the recent projects Howard worked on, a 3D interactive tour of London's famous Abbey Road Studios, won a design award the Cannes Lions festival on Wednesday.

His parents Margaret and John Howard, who have traveled to Cannes while police investigate the accident, released this statement: "We lost our beloved son James in a tragic accident in Cannes this week. We ask that the media respect the privacy of our family, his partner Eleanor and James's friends at this very difficult time."

Earlier this week Google said in a statement that the company had lost "a loved and respected member of our team."

"We are deeply saddened and our thoughts are with his family and friends," the statement continued.

Yesterday, Google sent an email to invitees of its planned Thursday night beach party canceling the event "out of respect for our teammate who tragically died in Cannes earlier this week."